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Ferry Corsten Biography

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Monikers(s):  System F, Gouryella, Veracocha, Albion and Moonman..

Ferry Corsten. 4 December 1973, Rotterdam City, The Netherlands.

The Dutch harbor city Rotterdam was Ferry Corsten's (28) playground when growing up and the city still is his current base of operations. Being a full-time producer since 1991 Ferry has developed into a true prodigy of the international dance scene.

After initially producing some hardcore gabba tracks Ferry became more interested in clubhouse and trance. In 1996 Ferry achieved a position in the U.K. single chart at #46 with 'Don't be Afraid' by Moonman, his first major and European breakthrough as a solo dance Artist, producer & composer.

In 1997 Ferry and his partner Robert Smit established the Tsunami dance label together with the Dutch based dance company Purple Eye Entertainment b.v.

This collaboration would prove to be an almost instant success and eventually resulted in the creation of one of the most influential dance labels around today. These three parties have set up in the meantime a new label called Polar State.

In February 1999 Ferry's second solo project, system F, was released on the Tsunami imprint. The title 'Out Of The Blue' is a melodic and powerful twister and turned out to be one of the biggest trance track of 1999, achieved a top twenty position in the U.K. single chart and put Ferry on the world-wide dance map permanently.

Other projects of Ferry Corsten are: "Carte Blanche" by Veracocha (produced together with Vincent de Moor) and in May 1999 the title "Gouryella" by the act Gouryella was released, an Artist-project Ferry produces together with the famous Dutch DJ Tiësto. The first single "Gouryella" entered the U.K. Singles Top 75 at #15 and achieved various hit positions throughout the world. The follow-up of Gouryella, entitled "Walhalla" has been released worldwide. Furthermore Ferry remixed William Orbit's " Adagio for Strings" as well as "New Yearsday" for the famous band U2.

In October of 1999 Ferry Corsten has been elected as 'Producer of the Year' during the recent Ericsson Muzik Awards in London, leaving fellow-nominees like Puff Daddy and Rodney Jerkins behind.

Next to his producing activities Ferry is a renowned DJ in the U.K. and recently debuted at Inner City in Amsterdam, spinning in front of a record crowd. The U.K. dance compilation Trance Nation mixed by Ferry was recently awarded
the platinum status.

The follow-up single of system F, entitled 'Cry' took trance to a different level combining soulful vocals by Saskia Lie Atjam with his typical trance sound which characterize his productions and made him so famous. 'Cry' is produced by Ferry Corsten and Robert Smit and additional remixes are provided by Rank 1, Oliver Lieb and Ferry Corsten himself.

Ferry's debut album entitled 'Out Of The Blue' by system F is completed and has been released in Holland on the 26th of March ,with further singles to be announced throughout this year. To kick things off the "Soul on Soul" track with Marc Almond will be the (3rd) international single and it is slated for release in the various territories in the next months.

The fourth single is "Dance Vallley theme 2001", this single was especially produced for the Dance Valley festival. This festival is the biggest outdoor dance festival in the world, with over 80.000 visitors.



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A pioneer and a dynamic force in the electronic dance music industry, Ferry Corsten never ceases to amaze, awe and even challenge his music contemporaries with the zest and talent he has in his productions and musical sets. He is widely recognized for opening the floodgates of Dutch producers and DJs to the international music scene.

Known for the countless aliases he has produced and remixed under since the release of his first record at the age of sixteen (16), Ferry Corsten has remained steadfast in pursuing his dream of spreading his unique sublime sound to music lovers worldwide. In his quest, he has gained not only respect in the music industry he has built around him but in similar musical genres as well.

Ferry had always been interested in music as a child. Tinkering with his father's record player at a young age, he saved up money to buy his first keyboard by washing cars, and selling mixed tapes to kids in his neighborhood. He then embarked on a live act performance with a friend and won his first award "De Grote Prijs van Nederland" Holland in 1989. He eventually released a record with a couple of friends when he was just sixteen years old and has evolved into releasing self-made productions. To this date, Ferry produces and engineers all his musical productions and compilations.

After initially producing some underground club tracks Ferry became more interested in clubhouse and trance. In 1996 Ferry achieved his first chart position in the UK single chart at #46 with 'Don't be Afraid' by Moonman, his first major and European breakthrough as a solo dance Artist, producer and composer.

Since Then, Ferry Corsten is the only electronic dance music artist to achieve the highest number of dance singles in the UK charts and currently has 10 gold singles in his studio.

Through the success of his production skills, he has also produced the Japanese Popstar, Ayumi Hamasaki's single "Connected" in her latest album, which has sold 4 million albums to date. (2003).

Similarly, he has been nominated and has a won numerous awards in the past few years. Ferry Corsten has been elected as 'Producer of the Year' during the Ericsson Muzik Awards in London (1999), leaving fellow-nominees like Puff Daddy and Rodney Jerkins behind him. In 2000 in his home country Ferry got awarded the prestigious Silver Harp award for his outstanding contributions made to Dutch dance music. He is nominated in this year's (2004) Winter Miami Music Conference for best International Dj and Best Compilation (Ferry Corsten: Mixed Live) and Best National DJ and Best Video (Rock Your Body Rock) for the TMF (Dutch MTV) Awards in the Netherlands (2004).

Aside from producing, Ferry began compiling and mixing the Trance Nation (1999-2001) series together with Ministry of Sound which has sold over a million copies worldwide.

It was there and then when Ferry began hitting the streets (all over the world) with his record bag to spread his unique sound of trance music. In the same year he entered the DJ charts in England (1999) and has been a consistent name on the list ever since. He is currently listed at number 5 on UK's DJ magazine (2004) and number 4 on America's BPM magazine (2004). Since then, he's consistently traveled around the Europe, America, and Asia every year averaging about 130 performances around the globe with concentrations on America, Europe and Asia.

2004 is a culmination of his work as a producing artist and dj. The launch of his artist album "Ferry Corsten: Right of Way" at the Heineken Musical Hall (Netherlands2003) where 4,500 clubbers came to be with Ferry in a special 8 hour set, in The Netherlands is a testament to his goal in combining his artistic skills as a producer and a DJ on an international scale.
From this album, hit singles such as It's Time, Punk and Rock your Body Rock have been released. "Rock Your Body Rock" debuted on number 11 on the UK Charts (February 2004). Remixes of this single were made by Moby and Renee Pilgrim.

Aside from the release of his artist album, 2004 has brought the release of compilations such as Dance Valley's 10th year anniversary and first of the series Euphoria Infinite. This year he has also remixed singles such as Stonebridge "Freak On" and Duran Duran's single "Sunrise" which hit the top 10 charts worldwide!

Join him in his musical journeys, be it with his current or past artist albums, a night out with him in your favorite club, or on the radio.

Link Barret - the young Welsh mastermind at the forefront of the current d+b scene - grew up more interested in films than music. It was J Majik's "Arabian Nights" which turned the then 17 year old Lincoln onto drum and bass, though he's now just as likely to be playing along.

Lincoln's sound could be described as 21st century disco, or quite simply the most uplifting drum+bass we have ever heard. In June 2002 Link's debut LP "True Colours" was released on Hospital to massive critical acclaim, with the singles 'Return of Forever' and 'Global love' nudging their way into the UK singles chart. The rise of High Contrast has been meteoric and looks set to go on and on. He is currently juggling the demands of being one of the most in demand DJ's on the circuit along with a constant string of remix requests. We should also point out that Link doesn't drink, eat meat or take drugs, and that his dad used to manage to Shakin Stevens, and taught him how to dance.

The name High Contrast needs no introduction anymore; though when a young Lincoln Barrrett signed on the dotted line back in 2000 he was a complete unknown. Signed on the strength of his mini-disc demos, the Welsh wonder has smashed his way through the d+b scene in no time at all.

His debut longplayer "True Colours" was released on Hospital to massive critical acclaim in June 2002, paving the way for a move onto the outernational dj circuit and remixer of choice for so many labels inside and outside of the drum+bass community. It has been the club sessions and mixing skills that have dominated the year since the True Colours dropped, but with the onset of Autumn we're finally welcoming the first wave of new music from the Red Square system.

Album number 2 is on the schedule for summer 2004. So long as we can keep him away from airport lounges once or twice a month, that deadline might just be met. In the meantime, for the next earful of dubplate exclusives be sure to check your next Contrast set.

Like the rest of us, it was the parental record collection that switched James Lavelle on to music, early Lavelle sets included the likes of Stevie Wonder and Deep Purple, an eclectic mix that was an embryonic blueprint both for James Lavelle as a DJ and for his label Mo' Wax; good tunes are good tunes - the genre doesn't matter.

But back to the young James. And hip-hop, the one style of music that initially captivated him. It wasn't just the music; the UK's fledgling hip-hop scene was as much about Tacchini as it was Whodini and the breaks were the rhythms for breakdancing. Which James couldn't do (see above). Not that it mattered, he was already sold on the breaks.
Inspired by the sound systems put together by the likes of Afrikaa Bambaata in the states and by the Wild Bunch over in Bristol, James started buying records by the bucketload and providing the soundtracks to his home town Oxford's own blockparty scene. The first party he put on, at 15, made him enough money to get a pair of decks and with Oxford starting to run out of vinyl, London beckoned. There's probably no better example of right place, right time.

Even during his work experience, at Bluebird records in West London, James Lavelle was selling tunes to the founding fathers of modern British dance. Pete Tong, Dave Dorrell, Norman Jay, Tim Simenon- the list is as long as it is distinguished. It also included Gilles Peterson, whose new Talkin' Loud label, with its fusion of different sounds, had given James an idea for a label of his own.
Taking its name from the night he'd started promoting, Mo' Wax Please, Mo' Wax was set up in 1993 with a £1,000 from Honest Jon's Records where James (still only 19) now worked. At Honest Jon's, James had started putting hip-hop tracks alongside the classic breaks that had inspired them; from the outset Mo' Wax worked along similar lines.
Out on the floor, James was again looking to do something different. He was playing Saturdays at the Fridge in Brixton and with Patrick Forge at the Gardening Club but was looking to take the anything goes eclecticism of Mo' Wax Please to a bigger audience- which made starting a club on a Monday night seem a bit odd. But That's How It Is, founded with Gilles Peterson at Bar Rumba was an instant classic and eight years down the line is still at the same time and in the same place. How many clubs can you say that about?
Meanwhile, Mo' Wax was taking the Lavelle musical approach to even greater heights with the release in 1996 of DJ Shadow's seminal 'Entroducing', a record that turned music on its head and catapulted Mo' Wax into the spotlight as never before. James says simply 'It changed everything' and for a while things did go a bit mad with both him and his label in ever increasing demand. With his laconic DIY approach to music overtaken by business and celebrity James chose this time to decamp to Los Angeles to spend three months working on a new brainchild, an album of his own, to be called UNKLE. It took five years.

With contributions from Ian Brown, Richard Ashcroft and Thom Yorke, UNKLE was an immense piece of work, the Britsh alternative dance record that James had always envisaged making. But the sheer length of time spent in the studio inspired James primarily to get back into clubs and to start DJing again. A DJ support slot for the Verve followed, as did a season in Ibiza and opening night sets at London superclubs Scala and Fabric, where he started his now famous Friday night residency.

It was a back to his roots move; a chance to play the records he loved to people who loved them, to both entertain and educate a whole new generation of clubbers in the same way he'd been entertained and educated in the '80s. Because ultimately, James is just a music fan like everybody else. 'The school kid with the broken glasses who made it' is how he terms it. 'I don't want to be in magazines, I just want to play records'.

In between playing records, James has found time to produce guitar band South, and provide the soundtrack for Jonathan Glaser acclaimed movie 'Sexy Beast' which threw him in at the deep end but gave James the chance to rediscover his DIY approach to music, an approach he never lost but one increasingly difficult to hold on to.
Not that he really needs to worry- his sheer enthusiasm for his music ensures its freshness. James is one of those characters who seems to be constantly pinching himself to make sure its true. 'I've got the luckiest job in the world' he says, and you can't help but believe him. This is the lad who has gone from stealing VW badges to being namechecked on record by Mike D, the same Mike D who said it was only Mo' Wax that made it worth going to Britain, the same Mike D who partly inspired James Lavelle to make music in the first place.

The James Lavelle musical revoloution has gone full circle and that big wheel just keeps on turning.

I look at my job as a modern day traveling minstrel, to bring new music to as many places as I can, and expose obscure records that, otherwise, might go hidden." While Mark Farina may be able to sum up his job description in a sentence, there is much more to be written.

Mark developed his musical tastes in Chicago - listening to house music on the radio, living in one of the country's most primordial breeding grounds for house. Around '88, while record shopping at Imports, Etc., he met Derrick Carter and a friendship began. "I just ended up there between classes, I ended up buying his picks. He steered me toward the cutting edge House producers of the time."

"I started playing when I lived with my parents and didn't have any bills to pay so I could just buy records. My intentions were never to just make money, it's nice, but it's kind of turned into a job by accident - it was a hobby that turned into a job."

Living together and working on tracks together along with Chris Nazuka, they utilized the tight connections between the Detroit and Chicago scenes. Fondly, Mark remembers hanging out listening to Detroit Techno classics - Model 500, Derrick May - eating bologne sandwiches on white bread and drinking Kool-Aid out of a paper cup, prepared by none other than Chef Saunderson himself. In '89, they signed on Kevin Saunderson's KMS Records under the Symbols in Instruments moniker and produced a landmark track called "Mood". "Mood" sold 35,000+ copies in the US and the UK. This record was the first ambient house track ever made and, accordingly, it has taken its position as a classic. The same year, The Face magazine published their year end Top 50 with "Mood" ranking above pop anthems by Dee-Lite and The Pet Shop Boys.

"I used to do mixes with Derrick on the radio at Northwestern, we'd make it at the house and listen to it on the lake where they filmed 'Risky Business'. We would drive around and listen 89.3 WNUR; they had a policy, guest DJs didn't have to be students." Eventually, the University changed their policy and only students were allowed to DJ.

When Farina first started wandering from his passion for the purist forms of House into what grew into one of his trademark styles, Mushroom Jazz, he was playing the main room in a club in Chicago and got demoted to the B-room after playing too many Martin Luther King Jr. samples. Mark experimented with a deeper style, dropping De La Soul, disco classics and other stuff that wasn't being played in the main room. However, in 1992, Mark found a welcome place for his collection of downtempo tunes accompanied by a small run of mix tapes entitled "Mushroom Jazz". Originally launched as a cassette series, the Mushroom Jazz tapes grew from the first Chicago run of 50 copies each...on to the next stage, where 500 copies of several volumes were easily distributed and sought after. As the Acid Jazz boom began, he perfected his sound and fused the newest tracks from the West Coast's jazzy, organic producers with the more urban sounds he had championed in Chicago. While the predominant musical force in SF was still dark, dubby House and Wicked-style Breaks, the city embraced the downtempo movement with a healthy bunch of live bands and DJs generating the tunes.

Mark Farina, along with partner, and manager, Patty Ryan-Smith, created the now legendary weekly club in San Francisco, Mushroom Jazz, in 1992. Every Monday night the crowd slowly germinated - from 100 for the first few months to 600-700 two years later. As time passed, Farina and Patty put their energies into another project, the first Mushroom Jazz interactive CD-ROM for Om Records. After a three year run, where the club had established a fanatical, cult-like following for Farina and the Mushroom Jazz sound, the club closed its doors and transformed into a CD series and accompanying tours.

Since 1989, Mark Farina has been traveling the globe performing at literally hundreds of shows a year, sometimes DJing both of his preferred styles in two different rooms at the same party. At other events, he's been known to play extended sets that lasted over eight hours. In his House sets, Mark is known for his uniquely effortless journeys on the jazzy side of Chicago House, mixed up San Fran style.

This wandering record minstrel has played to incredible crowds all over the globe. Consistently drawing new fans to his style of chunky-funky rhythms and deep underground house, Mark plays upwards of 200 shows to over one million (1,000,000) club goers per year. Voted in the top 20 DJ's in the world by MUZIK and BPM Magazine, his taste making skills continue to turn the heads of seasoned veterans as well as youngsters just getting into the music.

On CD, Mark has recorded both of his dominant musical personalities. His first mix, 'Mushroom Jazz' on Om Records, is defined by a hip-hop sub-groove with jazzy, dubby elements in the downtempo range. It was followed by 'Seasons', a critically acclaimed House mix. An Imperial Dub mixed CD, a guest slot in the pedigreed 'United DJs of America' series, 'Mushroom Jazz 2' (Om Records) and 'San Francisco Sessions, Vol. I' (Om Records) and Mushroom Jazz 3 (Om Records) to round out the Farina catalog. His past release "Connect" walks the line of San Francisco deeper and the bumpin' funky house sound of Chicago. Now, in November of 2002, Mark Farina releases his much beloved fourth volume of Mushroom Jazz.

Although he's technically a Canadian, Richie Hawtin will forever be associated with putting his beloved Detroit on the dance music map. Along with fellow Detroit pioneer Carl Craig, Hawtin helped break the second wave of Detroit techno. From north of Detroit in Windsor, Ontario, Hawtin has been a DJ, a producer, a record label owner, and a flag-waver for the underground Detroit scene which is only now getting the respect it deserves in the United States. Hawtin started his career DJing at underground parties in clubs like Detroit's Shelter. There he met his partner, John Acquaviva, and together they launched the influential Plus 8 Recordings label.

Hawtin created a unique techno sound, which is regarded as synonymous with the city of Detroit. That sound, electro house, is very minimal, yet highly danceable. He is known for his use of the Roland TB-303 bass machine and that sound has become inseparable from quality acid house and electro recordings. These days, Hawtin kicks around with a TR-909 drum machine. Hawtin signed a record deal with Nova Mute in 1993, and is considered a star in Europe, where he has enjoyed success with his project, Plastikman.

In 1994, rumor has it that Hawtin was scheduled to perform at a rave held inside the Brooklyn Bridge. Allegedly, while crossing the border from Canada, guards stopped him, assuming he was attempting to work illegally in the US due to the massive amount of equipment in his car. Supposedly he went home and recorded a set to DAT and shipped it to the promoters. To this day, no one can say for certain whether that headlining slot was live or on tape.

Today, he has gained the respect of a larger US audience. In May 2000, Hawtin performed at the first Detroit Electronic Festival alongside Derrick May, Juan Atkins and other techno masterminds. More than 200,000 people attended from all over the world.

Its a good job vinyl is his only addiction. Still only 22, James Zabiela was introduced to the world of acid house through his father who worked in a local record shop and would come home laden with armfuls of early house and techno. The year?1992. A time of innovation, invention and an endless stream of Guerilla releases. James was hooked instantly. Like father like son? The phrase could've been coined for Zabiela's career. " I was only 12 years old but I can still hear the thumping through my bedroom floor!" smiles James, who for now has purposefully avoided the lure of London by remaining in Southampton. My Dad would come home with armfuls of acid house tracks at the weekends, he recalls. It wasn't until I was 15 years of age, when I was to work in the same record shop, that tracks such as Joey Beltram's 'Energy Flash' & 'LFO' made sense to me. As soon as they did I was hooked. It wasn't long until he was offered a job at the shop as a vinyl buyer.

An understanding of Renaissance and Northern Exposure would soon follow, as would spinning in local haunts. At the time it was just a fun thing to do, he nods. It still is and that's what's important but I do take what I do seriously as well. As far as being inspired by other artists, Sasha and Digweed were the first to open my eyes to a new sound. Lee Burridge & Craig Richards had a similar impact a couple of years ago. I like to be inspired by hearing new music and DJs.

Of course, it was full-on vinyl addiction from then on in. Through the shop, James was introduced to various promoters and went on to play for local clubs including Menage a Trois and the infamous High Tide boat parties. But James was interested in a more diverse sound than trance with a capital 'T' and found it hard to play his breakbeat-flavoured beats to local crowds, so as 'a way in' decided to enter Muzik Magazines prestigious Bedroom Bedlam competition - and won. Music has always been a passion ever since I can remember. I never decided. When I was in my last year at school I discovered mixing & DJing and it was just a hobbie then but also potentially something that I could apply my passion for music to & have some practical use career wise. I never dreamt it would go this far.

That success was a great boost to his confidence and inspired him into working harder to promote his DJing career. Going out to more & more events, he started handing out those trusty mixtapes he'd done. While at Bedrock in London James met Lee Burridge, a key influence - who took the time to listen to the tape. He too was hooked. "His style is diverse, interesting & he's technically skilled, said Burridge. Blurring the line between house and breakbeat, he encapsulates all the skills that a new DJ should bring to the job." Lee invited James to play at his own Breaks night along with DJ Hyper & Craig Richards at Bar Atlantis. Since then James has played there every month. Word was undoubtedly spreading.

Inevitably James was DJing in London more than ever with gigs at the Laundry and at Muzik parties alongside the likes of Justin Robertson, Hybrid and Danny Tenaglia. Even Diggers took the time to call him up, offering James a slot at Bedrock. And he's been asked back on several occasions since as well as DJing for the Daliparade in Istanbul. Could things really get any better? They could. Just as James' feet were about to float back to earth, the phone call of his career came out of nowhere. Thanks to a gentle prod from Lee Burridge, one of his mix tapes was heard by a certain superstar DJ called Sasha, another of James' musical heroes. Within the month, mid-December in fact, James was offered a place on Sasha's team at Excession, joining a roster that includes Lee himself, Steve Lawler and Sander Kleinenberg. The best Christmas present ever, said James at the time. And Ibiza was just a plane ride away.

On August 12th 2001, James flew out from Heathrow to play the gig of his career thus far - spinning before Sasha at the most important date in the clubs annual history, James joined Lawler and Morillo for a career-defining gig inside at Space. And this was on the clubs twelfth birthday, no less. It's a mad place, and a brilliant place to play mainly because people from all over the world are there on their holidays to party & relax. There's no other crowd like it. It's like the best clubs from all over the world all in one place. Space was the most uplifting experience I've ever had as a DJ. Amazing. He says amazing a lot by the way. But its impossible to underestimate the significance of Ibiza for Zabiela. Riotously energetic, that peak-season gig sealed his fast-ascending reputation for good. Impressed by his fast moves, Steve Lawler came and shook his hand moments after the gig. These things just dont happen every day.

So how come things have moved so damn fast? The answer, of course, lies in the performance. Fusing the latest breakbeat slates into dark swathes of way-deep tech-house, the key to Zabielas sound is a heady mix of bump-laden melodies and subtle, soul-stirring chord changes. Avoiding the relentless assault of the four/four beat he dips into every wayward sound that surrounds it instead. Nathan Coles, Rocket and Terry Lee Brown Junior are just three of his favourite producers this week. Its all about avoiding the perfect beat, ysee. I hate to pigeon-hole myself, he says. I play a mixture of all styles which I believe is a style in itself. I like to go smoothly from one style to another. Why put boundaries on yourself? A typical set varys depending on the slot I'm given but if was to play the whole night I'd go from deep house to techno and breakbeat. It's important to entertain as well as educate.

And the future? Well, I wouldn't like to say, but a record label & more production for me as well as a monthly residency in London. But I'm just really glad to be doing what I'm doing. Last year was easily the best year of my life. DJing all over the world, in the best clubs to the best crowds, giving me the chance push boundaries & experiment as a DJ. I just want to keep on doing that. Romania, Israel and several appearances on Radio One all attest to his skills behind the decks. Mute Records commisioned him to remix Depeche Mode for the masses - a track so good that Sasha made it his essential release when interviewed on Radio One earlier this year, and you can expect to hear Zabielas own Essential Mix across the airwaves in March.

Watching James spin at Heaven for Muziks Christmas party with Bedrock at the tail-end of 2001, its easy to forget that such quick-fire mixing should be coming from someone at the peak of their career. Favouring bluesy tech-house and the sax-laden melodrama of Chocolate City (Deep Dish, natch), James displays a depth and understanding that can only come with experience - and this is only the beginning. The bright lights of America must surely be only around the corner. Two years ago I was working as a graphic designer and DJing part-time locally. It was tough going to work after 3 hours sleep! Hes not forgotten his roots. I remember my first gig at Bedrock: I went straight to work after driving back to Southampton where I still live... I'm sure the boss was suspicious! But compared to two years ago? To say my life has been turned upside down in the best possible way would be an understatement. I guess Im just a complete musical, mixing junkie.

Which is pretty much where we came in. If only everything in life was as simple as this...